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Thursday, 18 July 2013

We have had a couple if grumpy days lately with my baby boy, he is normally so placid and happy but he is suffering with his little teeth. At just under 4 months he started getting really fussy, trying to chew everything and shouting and drooling a lot! I couldn't see anything on his gums but the signs were all there so in the end I got some teething gel for him. It was only when rubbing it on his guns I felt the tooth, right round the back at the bottom.

Babies normally get the bottom front teeth first so it was really strange and explained him being out of character. I got granny to check and she confirmed it's a molar! A few people have said they think I should take him to the doctors as they have never heard if such a thing.

Does anybody have similar experiences? Does it mean anything? And what can I do to help him? The pain seems to last a couple of days, then ease off for a few days before coming back again. I have tried cooled teethers, calpol, baby neurogenic, teething gel... nothing seems to make much difference. He has had tears streaming down his face it's terrible, he seems to young for it all. A friend has suggested an amber anklet, any other tips?

Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Well I thought since having my baby my emotions had evened out a bit. I was all over the place during those 9 months, crying for any old reason – whilst watching wildlife programs, if I couldn't find something around the house, and most embarrassingly reading the newspaper whilst traveling the tube.

But now it's over I'm feeling completely level headed, completely calm, and completely back to normal right? Maybe not... maybe being a Mum changes you in a way that you just can't undo? I think it has, because when I watched this advert I have to admit I completely welled up!

Looking after my babies has made me sentimental and the fantastic sentiment of this video got me right there. It isn't a sad video at all, it's actually really up beat, great fun and I loved it. I was, in fact, laughing away watching it before I got all soppy – well worth a watch and a smile.

p.s. please let me know if it left you (just a teeny tad) emotional at the end too...

Please note I have received a small incentive to feature this video, but I did it because I liked it and all thoughts are my own!

Saturday, 22 June 2013

Moneysupermarket.com sent us an amazing children's gardening set to give us a new burst of enthusiasm for the garden and help us join in the Britmums challenge. The minute my daughter opened the parcel she was sooo excited about getting out in the garden and planting her new seeds! This post is an entry for BritMums’ #KidsGrowWild Challenge.

So here it is – our gardening story.

This was pretty much the case when we moved into our new build – we lovingly called it "our blank canvas"! One month later our first baby was born and together, little by little, on a small budget, we made it our own. At about 40m2 our garden is compact but we have tried to make the most of it and it works. I love it, my daughter loves it and Daddy is quite proud as he did most of the work!

My little ones love the garden. Baby boy loves to sit under the bamboo with Mummy and watch the leaves blow in the wind, and to watch the windmills spin. My little girl loves chasing bubbles, building tunnels for Wiggly Woo in the stones, making fairy gardens, hiding dinosaurs in the flowers beds and making stone animals. This one is a crocodile!

And of course my daughter loves helping with the gardening and she couldn't wait any longer to plant her new seeds. We don't have much flower bed space so we decided to use pots and luckily found some round the side of the house looking sorry for themselves.

She got on her gloves and forked the soil and pulled out the old weeds that had been growing in the pots.

Then we explored the seeds we had been sent. There was a mixed packet (she has named everything flowers), sunflowers and some pansies.

She was fascinated by the seeds and their different shapes. We spent a long time looking at them and deciding what they looked like!

Squiggle then sprinkled the pansy and the 'everything' seeds in their pots and covered them over with soil. Then she carefully planted a couple of the sun flower seeds in the last pot.

Last year we planted sunflowers but we started them off on the windowsill in the kitchen. They are a great thing for children to grow as they shoot up really quickly, so they can almost watch them grow in front of them. We had 3 sunflowers last year, so Squiggle, Daddy and I chose one each and had a sunflower race. It was great fun, and of course, she won! I hope these do as well after starting them outside.

Once the seeds were planted I cut out the pictures from the packets for her and sticking them to some lollipop sticks she stuck them in as labels.

A sure way to get any child interested in the garden is to get them a watering can. Once she had planted the seeds my daughter just couldn't wait to get watering. She loves being allowed to fill it up herself in the sink and carry it through the house (with mummy following behind with the mop). She watered all her pots well and instantly asked when they would start growing. Gardening is a great life lesson in patience for a 3 year old................................................................................................................................................

One of the reasons my little girl was so keen to get planting is that I promised she could decorate the boring old pots. We took a trip to the DIY shop and I let her choose 3 sample pots of emulsion paint. At about £1.50 each it is good value and you even get a brush in the lid so it's pretty hassle free.

Mess and paint in the sunshine, what's not to love? She got to work planning and painting and soon our garden was full of smiles and laughter... and her legs were caked in blue paint! We have had a pit of rain since painting them and I'm pleased to say they haven't run. She took so much care and pride in painting them that I was terrified we would come down one morning to find pink puddles on the grass.

She has placed her pots with pride in front of her Wendy house, so that it now has it's own, special, vibrant garden. Every morning she is straight in the garden in her pyjamas to check their progress, so please don't let us down flowers! x

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

What did you do this Father's Day? We had a lovely day and I think Daddy was really pleased with his present this year – we made him a story book! My daughter absolutely loves stories, both reading and making them up, so it seemed the perfect idea!

She made the whole story up herself, I wrote the words she thought of, and she drew all the pictures. It was so cute and very funny, one to keep forever. Perhaps one day when she is the next Julia Donaldson I can sell it on eBay...?!